I need a name for this soup since I came up with it myself by combining the flavors and styles of a few other soups. Maybe Italian meatball soup? Maybe Tomato Basil Meatball soup? Hmmmm….let me think on it.

Tomato Basil Meatball soup

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 medium onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

3/4 cup white wine, I had a chardonnay on hand

32 ounces chicken broth

2-3 cups water

1 28 ounce can of plum tomatoes

handful of fresh basil

1 pound ground turkey

1 egg

1/2-3/4 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon or so of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

3/4 cup orzo-cooked separately

Heat oil in a stock pot and saute the onion for a few minutes, add in garlic and red pepper flakes. Heat another 2 min. or so, don’t burn the garlic or it becomes bitter. Add in the wine and reduce to about half. Add in the chicken broth. Cut up the plum tomatoes and add them to the broth and water( You could use all chicken broth or stock instead of water for a richer flavor). Add in salt and pepper and adjust taste, at this point you could add more pepper flakes if you like.

Make meatballs with turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, cheese and seasoning. Roll into small meatballs and drop into soup when it is boiling. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add in a handful of fresh basil that has been chopped. In a separate pot, cook the orzo for about 9 min. or al dente. Drain and mix with a little olive oil. Serve with the pasta and fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Copyright 2009

Michelle Amoroso Lutz

I paired this with the Rosemary and cheese focaccia and it was simply delicious!

Today is a baking day. I decided to test my skills with yeast breads. I have never made a yeast bread by hand before, I have used a bread machine, but that is not the same thing by any means. Foccacia bread is a simple bread to start with. A little history of the focaccia is in order to start us off. Focaccia or ‘fougasse” is basically a flat bread that has olive oil and herbs, sometimes cheeses, vegetables and meats added to the top for flavor. It’s believed to be the forerunner to the modern day pizza.  This food timeline site gives much more information, for those who want to learn more. It’s amazing how far back in history certain foods originate from.

I found my original recipe at IFF for Rosemary Focaccia bread but did some searching for a video on “punching down” the dough after it rises and found this video showing the step by step methods for making Rosemary and cheese focaccia bread, which I am all about the cheese! I am also taking my own pictures, as much as possible when I am alone here, so I can have a photo album of me making the bread, to pass down to my children and grandchildren.

Rosemary Focaccia

Makes 1 Focaccia
by Deborah Mele

1 Pkg. Active Dry Yeast

1 1/2 Cup Warm Water 

4 Cups All-purpose, Unbleached Flour

1 Teaspoon Salt

6 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Fresh Chopped Rosemary

Coarse Salt

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water, and let sit 10 minutes until bubbly. In a large bowl, combine the flour, Ts. of salt, yeast mixture and remaining water as needed to make a workable dough. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon and then your hands. Transfer to a floured work surface and knead by hand for about 5 minutes or until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down and place on an oiled baking sheet, forming into an oval or circle. Dimple the top surface with your finger tips, and then drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with coarse salt and rosemary. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Variations: Instead of the rosemary, you might add 2-3 tablespoons of fresh chopped sage to the dough with some Fresh Parmesan on top. Other alternatives are sliced olives, thinly sliced zucchini or thinly sliced onions. Such cheeses as grated Parmesan, Mozzarella, or Fontina are also good.

Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele 2002

This focaccia recipe I make a least weekly. It always turns out wonderfully, can handle dodgey measurement mistakes and the flavour is superb. The recipe is from the manual that came with my bread maker, and the bread maker has been steadily plowing away making it for years. I now have retired the old machine and this recipe has happily translated to my new Kitchen Aid mixer!! (*excitement*)

Ingredients;

250 ml water

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar (any sort, white, raw, brown, even used honey once)

450 grams/ 3 cups bread flour     (I used any from cheap generic plain  flour through to biodynamic stone ground!)

2 tsp dried yeast

Method:

Oven on to approx. 180° C

Bread maker: pile it all in, in the order listed. Set your bread maker to `dough’ setting.  check during the mixing that the dough is not too dry or wet (flour and humidity and the wind speed over the Bahamas can all affect dough…) and add a little more flour of water accordingly. Dough should be elastic and `springy without being sticky or dry and floury)

At the end of cycle (should be mixed and risen once) put dough in pan or free form on baking sheet. Let rise for maybe 20 mins longer. Can also be shaped into bread rolls.

Mixer;  same as above, but you turn the mixer off when the dough is well formed and elastic. Let rise in bowl or place straight in pan.

The beauty of this dough is it copes well with one rise or two. Two rises gives a slighty finer, smoother crumb.

By hand;  um…well haven’t tried it, but just mix and knead as per usual bread making method I’d say. One or two rises, whatever you like.

Just make sure the last rise is in the pan or on the baking sheet as every time you move or shape yeast dough it `deflates’, and you need to let it rise again.

Bake; About 20-25 mins at 180° C, a little less for bread rolls. Should be golden brown and feel and sound hollow when tapped.

Enjoy with …anything really.

BTW,  this recipe can be easily doubled, tripled… just make sure your mixer/bread maker/arms can handle the quantity.

A cranberry focaccia recipe was featured in a SAQ insert in the Montreal Gazette weeks ago.  SAQ stands for Société des alcools de Québec – Quebec’s liquor commission.  When they promote new wines, they send out a leaflet called Tchin Tchin containing a dozen recipes that go well with these wines.  You can view it here: (http://publications.saq.com/doc/TchinTchin/tchin_hiver_2009_fr/2009102801/. 

I wanted to try the recipe for three reasons:  (a) it was fairly easy to follow (no prior kitchen acrobatics required), (b) it called for store-bought pizza dough and (c) it had only three toppings (read my lips:  no-fuss recipe).

The combination of cranberries and rosemary is nothing new.  If you google “cranberry focaccia” there are as many recipes for it as there are for say, lasagna or spicy meatballs.  Even Gordon Ramsay has a recipe!  The third topping – pine nuts – sharpens the unique flavor of this focaccia. 

Taste-wise, I’d give this recipe an A+.  It was my first time to try the cranberry/rosemary/pine nuts blend and I was won over.  I’m not sure if I would classify it as a savoury bread because of the cranberries, but then I would be splitting hairs in this case.  Savoury breads connote the use of herbs, so the rosemary would put this focaccia in that category.

Here’s the recipe (you can also get it from the URL above).  Read my comments afterwards because this recipe, though delicious and utterly savoury, can certainly be modified, in terms of the procedure.

Ingredients (makes one loaf)

• 1 ball store-bought pizza dough (about 1 pound)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• fine sea salt

Procedure:

1.  Place the pizza dough on a plate, brush with the olive oil and cover with a damp cloth.  Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or for six hours at room temperature.

2.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). 

3.  Roll the dough out into a 30 cm x 38 cm rectangle (12 in x 15 in).  Sprinkle with the dried cranberries and rosemary and press them firmly into the dough. 

4.  Fold the dough in half and roll out again into the same-sized rectangle.

5.  Transfer to a greased baking sheet.  Brush the dough with oil and sprinkle with the pine nuts.

6.  Leave to rise for 10 minutes or until nicely puffed.  Add salt and bake on the lowest oven rack for 10 minutes or until golden.

My comments re this cranberry focaccia recipe:

1.  I used dried rosemary because the store didn’t have fresh ones that day.  I’ll use fresh rosemary the next time (yes, I will make it again).  Peter Reinhart also recommends using fresh.  As for the cranberries, I felt no need to chop them.

2.  I had a hard time shaping the dough into a 12in x 15in rectangle, even after resting time.  Maybe I should have weighed the dough.  It may have been under a pound, which is why I could not stretch it out to that measurement.  But this is not a major problem.

3.  Instead of folding the dough over to sprinkle pine nuts, I would put the pine nuts together with the cranberry and rosemary.  Spreading them atop the dough was precarious – some of them fell off.  This can still be done if you poked your fingers into the dough and created pockets on which the pine nuts could sit.  I remember reading Peter Rinehart’s recipe for focaccia and it called for this poking step and dousing the dough with herb oil (which can be made at home he says).  He didn’t say anything about folding the dough in half.

4.  The dough did not rise that well.  I think it’s my fault – I over-kneaded.

5.  The “bake for 10-minutes or until golden” instruction was more like 20 minutes.  There’s nothing wrong with my oven – it’s only six years old.  I had to put on the broiler on high for 2 minutes because the dough remained pale.  Of course, my pine nuts burned as you can see in the last picture above.  This is another reason why I would incorporate the pine nuts with the cranberries and rosemary instead of sprinkling it on top of the dough.

Verdict?  A simple but oh-so-delicious recipe, folks!  If you haven’t tried the rosemary and cranberry combination, if and you’re not allergic to rosemary, this focaccia has the ooomph and punch of a breakfast or afternoon snack!  A refreshing departure from your cheese and tomato sauce pizza!

Well perhaps the headline is an exaggeration but Focaccia is truly one of God’s inventions. Focaccia is an oven-baked bread and is somewhat similar to Pizza but is not exactly the same thing. The dough is a bit like pizza dough in texture and uses high-gluten flour, oil, water, salt and yeast.

Easy to make, this bread and pizza substitute can be made using many different toppings, including, of all things, grapes. This recipe for Schiacciata all’Uva is from the central Italian region of Tuscany. This variation on Focaccia is generally made following the end of harvest, in October and November. We like it anytime.

Red Grape Focaccia or Tuscan Schiacciata

Ingredients for forty 2 inch square pieces:

2 envelopes active dry yeast
Pinch of salt
2 cups of warm water
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
5 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
12 oz of red seedless grapes

Preparation:

Combine the yeast, sugar and water in a small bowl and let sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.

Put the flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix on low speed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 3 to 5 minutes.

Transfer the sticky dough to a generously floured 6 inch square section of a counter or board. Dust the dough liberally with flour, parting the dough to form a rectangle. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes.

Dust your hands with flour and stretch the dough in each direction to twice its size. Fold the dough over itself in three, letter style and form a rectangle. Brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, dust with flour and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, line a standard 11 x 17 inch rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drizzle the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil over the parchment and spread it to cover.

Transfer the dough to the cookie sheet with a plastic scraper or spatula, trying to retain the rectangular shape as much as possible. Flip the dough over and use your fingertips to stretch the dough until it fits inside the pan. Distribute the grapes across the dough, pushing them in slightly. Put the dough in a warm place to rise for 1 hour. Alternatively, the dough can be covered loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Remove the pan from the refrigerator 3 hours before baking.

Preheat oven to 500 F.

Lightly brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place the pan in the oven, lower the temperature to 450F and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking the focaccia until it begins to turn a light golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Carefully peel off the parchment if necessary. Cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Recipe from Wine Bar Food by Cathy and Tony Manutuano

I know, I know – I’m really late on posting my BBA Challenge results. But I’m clearing the backlog .

We hadn’t had pizza for quite a while and my kids were craving it so I thought the pizza-style focaccia would be a good thing to make. I don’t really remember whether it was the non-poolish or poolish version, though, because the pizza baking happened almost 3 months ago. I think, it was the poolish focaccia, though.

I followed the instructions through the stretch- and-fold and bulk fermentation stages. Then I transferred the dough to a bed of flour, divided it into 8 pieces, gently rounded them into loose balls, taking care that they would degas as little as possible. Then I put them into soufflé molds, covered them with plastic wrap and refrigerated them for 2 days or so.

On the baking day I took them out of the fridge long before baking to take off the chill. Then I gently pressed the dough  pieces with my fingertrips into disks, transferred the disks to a sheet pan, rubbed some herb oil over the top and pressed peppers, mushrooms and pepperoni (salami) into the center of the dough. I covered it with plastic wrap and let it proof for about 2 hours. Then I added cheese and baked it for about 12 minutes.

The result was a yummy pizza, so the kids said. I REALLY  liked the flavor of the herb oil and will make the focaccia soon without all the toppings and just the herb oil.

The past few days I’ve been griping about the weather not getting cool enough to get into the holiday spirit, but it looks like we will have a “Florida” chill today in the low to mid 60’s, so that got me thinking SOUP!

I made some noodles last night in the pasta machine and this morning I am making a delicious Turkey Vegetable Noodle soup.  8oz-$1.50……16oz-$2.75……..32oz-$4.25

A nice compliment to that is Focaccia Bread. For those of you not familiar with Focaccia, it’s like a pizza, but without the tomato sauce. Sometimes its just plain with a little spices and herbs, other times it can have many of the same toppings a pizza does.

Today I’m making two different focaccia for you. One has spinach and shaved parmesan, the other has pepperoni, thin onion slices and grated parmesan. Both go well with the soup or just on their own! $2.00 a slice.

Don’t forget we are doing the bagel sandwiches for $4.50 and even though it’s another FREE Cheesecake day,  today you can have your choice of the free cheesecake OR a FREE cup of soup with your sandwich purchase!

See you at lunch!

Hey guys, remember the summer? Remember that one time where we all went over to Daniel’s house to make food for his birthday?  Man, that was like…four months and one day ago. What’s that?  You aren’t sure that happened?  You don’t think you were invited, or maybe your invitation was lost in the mail a la the sarcastic qualification under the “parties” section of the Gossip Girl website on the intro to the hit teen drama “Gossip Girl”?

Well fear not, for I have pictures and intend to pair them with descriptions of the evening so, cruel social exclusion notwithstanding, you can tell all of your friends that you attended.  You can watch as their eyes, usually half covered by australopithecine lids, focused on nothing in particular as though staring at a television displaying a (marginally) lower primate wearing a party hat, and arrhythmically clashing cymbals together, begin to fill with tears of envy.

You’re welcome.

Moving backwards through the evening we begin with this espresso-chocolate flourless torte.

As it happens, a lot of chocolate cake recipes call for coffee because it enhances the flavor of the chocolate without really coming through in the final product.  This would not fly.  We wanted coffee first, chocolate, you know, for texture or something…whatever.  At any rate we decided the best course of action would be to get fresh pulled shots from Gimme! Coffee. We explained calmly and endearingly that we needed roughly eight shots for our cake.  Any other human would have been charmed to the point of volunteering their assistance, and, perhaps, wallet sized photographs of their children.  Not this stone-faced barista.  If I were to try to express the pure depth of his indifference via the art of emoticonography, I believe I would employ the use of this: >:-|.  After mutilating and grafting together two recipes for flourless torte (and more than a little educated guesswork on our parts) we cut the cake’s prep time from about an hour plus “overnight” to chill, to a little under three hours total.  When that time of reckoning was nigh we piped on the happy birthday message pictured here:

"He was born today and doesn't afraid of anything."

Daniel, the birthday boy, pictured here:

Picture courtesy of the "dan bartholomew is awesome" facebook group

Described his cake thusly: “…uhhh it was…very good…”

We paused briefly to reflect on which adjectives we would use to describe the experience of eating cake…all by itself.  The decision was unanimously “uuuuuughhh boooooorrrrinnng”.  We decided to whip up (heh) some espresso meringues to go alongside the torte.Those are coffee beans on top despite the insistence of certain parties that they “look like little deer turds”.  In case you were wondering “Is there a blurry, poorly lit photo of a slice of this cake with a couple meringues plopped alongside it with no obvious regard for presentation?”, feast your eyes on this:There were a number of other dishes prepared for this occasion.  there are also a number (a different one) of those dishes for which I have a picture or so.  The latter number would be one.  That dish would be our attempt at the previously-posted-so-easy-I’m-never-paying-for-this-again focaccia bread. Our focaccia was so similar to Mei’s there is really no point saying anything about it…seriously, even her picture is better.

All in all it was a pretty fun time.  Now all you have to do to be invited to the next one is befriend Serena Van Der Woodsen, or get Blair to blackmail someone.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. I’ve still been cooking and have actually made some new dishes but I haven’t had time to photograph and post what I’ve been up to in the kitchen. I decided to make a focaccia bread this afternoon and it looked wonderful and I had some extra time so I took some pictures to share with you.

Since I posted last – I got a bread machine *cheers*! Some friends accidentally received two bread machines as wedding gifts and decided to give me their second. I was so excited and have been in a bread making frenzy since. I’ve made a country white loaf, cinnamon rolls, breadsticks, pizza crust, and focaccia. Below is the recipe for focaccia – if you own or have used a bread machine you know how to put the ingredients in the machine and set the cycle on a dough setting. If you are making this dough by hand, it is just like an other bread recipe – mix, shape and rise.Go here if you need more help.

Focaccia

Makes one 14 inch crust

1 cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups bread OR all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

Directions

After the dough has mixed and risen, punch dough to remove air bubbles. Set on floured surface and roll into a sheet about 15 by 9 inches and place on a greased cookie sheet. Using you fingers, poke the surface to dimple the focaccia. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with shredded red onion and shredded cheese (I used a blend of Asiago, Parmesan, and Romano)  or you can use other desired toppings. Bake in 375 º F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet to cool. Serve warm or cool.

A tasty companion to focaccia is marinara sauce. Here’s recipe I use to make sauce for pasta but it tastes good with this flatbread too.

Marinara Sauce

Makes about 3 cups

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

1can (28 ounce) whole tomatoes in juice

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoon fresh basil or parsley

Directions

In a 4 quart sauce pan, heat oil over medium high heat until hot. Add onion and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes with their juice (best in chopped up before), tomato paste, salt and pepper and heat to boiling over high heat, stirring to break up tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium to cook, stirring occasionally, 15 to 30 minutes  (depending on your taster; the longer the boil, the stronger the taste. Stir in basil.

This is a great flat bread to serve when you have company over. Enjoy!

Melissa

Focaccia

Focaccia is a flat bread that can be used for all types of sandwiches - panini, grilled cheese, etc.  - or used as a base for pizza.  There are numerous variations of focaccia bread found around the world.  Traditional focaccia comes in many flavors and shapes, and can be savory or sweet. 

The most widely known variation of the focaccia theme is a bread that’s topped with olive oil, herbs, and sea salt.   But focaccia dolce (sweet bread) with raisins is common in northern Italy.

Gluten free focaccia bread at Free Range Cookies is made using traditional techniques that allow the bread to develop its full flavor while enhancing the texture.  How does this relate to a book about artisan bread baking?  Time, temperature, and technique are three important elements of bread baking that Peter Reinhart addresses in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  

Bread Baker’s Apprentice

I was asked recently why I’d bother looking at books about making bread with wheat flour.  The answer is simple.  I’ve learned a lot by studying books like Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice and applying these methods to gluten free bread making.  The ingredients may be different, but many techniques transfer to gluten free bread making.

To improve your gluten free bread, I’d suggest heading to the library.  Check out and study artisan bread books by Peter Reinhart and others.  It could totally change the way you approach your own baking challenges. 

-Linda

I can’t decide if it is a cause of laziness, or if they just do it better, but my husband and I have started buying pizza dough at the Publix close to our apartment. I would have never bought it, but saw that my sister-in-law bought it the last time we visited her in Jacksonville and figured if it was good enough for one Neapolitan, it would be good enough for another. I’m ashamed to admit it, but after having discovered this great dough, I’ve given up on making my own. I never really did it very well and it was just so much work. Terrible, I know.

We’ve done a number of different pizzas with this dough, calzones too, I wanted to try to make a focaccia, like the ones that I ate when I lived in Matera. Of course nothing can compare to the focaccia in Matera, but this got me at least a little closer. Mmmmmmm, I don’t think that there is anything better than freshly baked focaccia in Basilicata, and though Italians tend to eat sweet pastries for breakfast in Italy, we would often have these for breakfast, which I loved. I never got into the sweets for breakfast, or after dinner for that matter.

I have a few different pizza dough recipes on this site, if you decide to make your own, if not, try your local grocer’s dough, or ask your local pizzeria if they will sell you some. They may look at you like your crazy, but it is worth asking!

Focaccia

• 1 lb of pizza dough
• 1/2 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut into quarters (you could also you whole canned tomatoes, cut into quarters)
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 425°F. Roll the dough out on a baking sheet or a pizza slide for a pizza stone, you don’t want it to be as thin as it would be for  a pizza, but a little thicker. Press the quartered tomatoes into the dough, they may pop out while rising in the oven, so don’t be disappointed if they aren’t as pretty coming out as they were going in. Brush olive oil over the tomatoes and the dough. Sprinkle thyme. Bake for about 15 minutes, it is ready when it has puffed and is golden brown.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

One Year Ago: La Sicilia I, La Sicilia II, La Sicilia III, & Fusilli with Swordfish and Pistachios,

Day 85: Papa Gino’s Flashback

For dinner I had the brilliant idea of making breadsticks out of the leftover focaccia dough, then dipping them in marinara and that Four Cheese sauce. It was pretty good, but kind of unnecessary—the focaccia has plenty of taste on its own. This would be pretty stellar with plain breadsticks, though.  And they did cook faster than the focaccia skillet from last time (which was the goal). Memories of high school pasta parties at Papa Gino’s…

Day 87: Happy Friday the 13^th/Condiment Smorgasbord

Tonight I made the second half of the Veggie Burgers, only this time I had two new condiments to put on top, thanks to my amazing Obruni relatives: spicy horseradish mustard and Squeeze Cheese (cheddar flavor in a bottle). It was pretty good! Those plus some A1 and good old Maggi ketchup equaled a seriously savory experience. I highly recommend making your own bean/veggie burgers—to everyone! You’ll never go back to buying Boca.

Note: luckily, nothing out of the ordinary level of bad happened on this Friday the 13^th. But it was fun anyways.

Day 89: Lemon-Pepper Pawpaw

For breakfast I made scrambled eggs with green pepper and pepe, as well as boiled Fra-Fra potatoes. With ketchup, they tasted almost like home fries—I saved half and am going to pan-fry them next time.  But I think boiling is a necessary first step because they take so damn long to cook.

Every time I get bananas, a portion of them end up just going into the freezer for later, as they’re too mushy or ripe to just eat.  So I made Banana Ice Cream (DOC p. 106) and used some real milk, with extra cream, in addition to the Ideal.  It’s good, and it froze surprisingly fast, but the taste of the Ideal is really pronounced.  I’m not the biggest fan of Ideal, so if I make it again I’ll probably tweak the recipe a bit. Oh well.

When I cut up the pawpaw I bought in Bolga, most of it was ripe, but some wasn’t.  So I boiled the unripe part for five minutes and added some butter and it tasted almost like squash! Very interesting. Then I tried adding lemon-pepper seasoning and it was great. I also had some boiled cabbage dressed in the same way—highly recommended.

Day 90: Gas is finished.

As soon as my class was over at 11:40 this morning, I speedwalked home with just one thought in my head: I’M SO HUNGRY. So I fried up the rest of the Fra-Fra potatoes in just a few minutes, and just as they were about to be done, the gas for the stove gave out.  But the potatoes tasted oh-so-good when dusted liberally with salt and chili powder—they didn’t even need ketchup. But I put it on anyway.

So, on account of having no heat source with which to cook dinner, I ate the Kashi 7-grain pilaf my mom sent. It was indeed good, and easy, but they advertise it as “fiery” and I didn’t find it spicy at all. Maybe this is proof of my escalating spice tolerance?  I hope when I go back to the States I’ll be able to eat mega-hot buffalo wings without dying. That’s my #1 when-I-get-back goal.  The pilaf also contains 17% of your daily sodium per serving, but I didn’t find it salty either.  With extra salt and fresh tomatoes, though, it was A-OK.

For dinner I’m also taking advantage of my most recent Fresh Fruit Smorgasbord.  There were pineapples in Navrongo yesterday—first time EVER!—for only one cedi!  I snapped that thing up so fast no one had time to blink.  And to think just last week I spent 4 cedis on a comparably-sized pineapple in Bolga. Oh well, I’ll do anything for pineapple.  Mary also brought me some HUGE oranges from the south, with flesh so tender you can eat the whole sectionsinstead of picking out the middle and tossing the tough parts.  I also have bananas, other oranges and apples—why, I could make a fruit salad if I so desired! But I don’t.

Day 91: Hy-Vee Heaven

The headmaster hasn’t brought me a new gas cylinder yet, so I ate a tomato Con Queso sandwich and some Hy-Vee Dark Chocolate Cranberry trail mix. I have no idea what kind of brand Hy-Vee is or where it comes from, but it’s definitely the best store-bought trail mix I’ve ever set taste buds on.  Even better than Target’s Monster Mix—and that has peanut butter chips. I love peanut butter chips.

Day 92: “What’d you have for dinner?” “Pancakes & cabbage”

I got the gas tank refilled today, but it took me and then Mr. Abdallah almost an hour to get it reconnected. Let’s hope I never have to go through that song and dance ever again.  So it was already getting dark by the time I could start cooking, and I hadn’t make pancakes in a long time. I dumped water in a bowl with Great Value pancake mix (also sent by my mom), and they were OK, but Aunt Jemima or from-scratch are better.  But maple syrup makes anything taste first-rate.

I had resolved earlier in the day that I would eat some vegetables at dinner, and what could be easier than boiling some cabbage? So I had pancakes ‘n’ cabbage. As long as you keep them separate, it’s not half bad.

Day 93: Ravioli Science in the Kitchen

For breakfast I made Tom Brown porridge the DOC way, but I roasted the maize that had already been ground.  I had to add some sugar, and cook it for 10+ minutes to soften the coarse cornmeal, but it was pretty good.  Adding fresh milk was also a nice treat.

I’ve been waiting for over a week to make the ravioli which I’ve been planning forever—I’d have made it Monday, but the gas went out.  So I tested the ricotta from last week: hadn’t spoiled, but it was still SEVERELY acidic from the excess of vinegar I added by mistake.  So I mixed in a bunch of sugar, salt and Italian seasoning and it was much better. Then I had the idea to add baking soda: that would neutralize the acidity, right? Well, I tested a small batch, and it did indeed neutralize the sour taste, but halfway through the fizzing I remembered that baking soda + vinegar = salt + water.  So it was going to make the end product TOO salty. And I was right. Sad. So the baking soda idea was nixed.  The filling tasted fine without it though, especially once I added a bunch of Laughing Cow, sautéed onion/garlic and some previously cooked alefo.  I put it back in the fridge to make the pasta later.

For lunch I made Squeeze Cheese mac ‘n’ cheese—regular pasta, boiled with some sweet potato and cabbage for good measure, with Squeeze Cheese mixed in (thanks Aunt Joanie!). It bordered on the excellence one can obtain from the blue box, which was a pleasant surprise.

Day 95: Quaker Remake

Remember those Quaker instant oatmeal packets that come in the variety pack? For breakfast I chopped up some dried apples from home and tossed ‘em in oatmeal with cinnamon and sugar.  It was quite good, and using dried apples even gave it that familiar springy texture.

At dinnertime I felt kind of gross so I made Indomie (that statement, in hindsight, sounds less than sensical).  It’s not as good as the instant ramen you find in the States, but it is spicier. There’s a seasoning packet and a separate chili pepper packet inside.  I also left some in the fridge overnight and the noodles absorbed all the remaining liquid—now they’re HUGE!

Oh, and I checked on the price of FanGold when I was in Navrongo yesterday. It increased by 20p. FanGold is now GhC 1.20. Blast.

HOORAY ok so happy Thanksgiving and I’m about to post everything I’ve written since november 1st. I think I’m missing a few from before that but they’re just going to have to chill and be added later…if ever.

Day 76: Stovetop Ecstasy Two Ways

Yesterday I was blessed with a package containing real crabmeat, salmon, blueberry muffin mix, brownie mix and pesto (among many other delicious things).  I can’t wait to start massacreing its contents. Also yesterday, I bought two pieces of precooked chicken from the chicken & rice place in Navrongo—two measly pieces for GhC 1.60! Not doing that again.  The idea was to use them in a recipe calling for cooked chicken pieces. Now to find one upon which to bestow the honors of the mad-expensive poultry.

Following are instructions for what can only be titled Stovetop Ecstasy Two Ways:

1. Prepare focaccia as directed in the DOC, adding a few tsp. each of Italian seasoning and garlic powder to the dough. I used half sunflower oil and half EVOO; it could’ve done with just half the oil total.

2. Stretch out half (or less) of the dough to fit your skillet and cook over med-low heat, 10-15 min per side till crunchy on the outside and golden.

3. Meanwhile, slice a red onion. When the bread is done, set it on a rack to cool, then sauté the onion in EVOO till caramelized and set aside.

4. Sauté another sliced red onion, ½ green pepper, minced garlic clove, and a pulled-apart precooked chicken leg from a chop stand. Cook a few minutes, then add a few shakes chili powder & one shake cumin. Now, with some fresh tomato, you’ve got fajitas.

5. Place the first onion atop a section of the focaccia and sprinkle with salt. Eat the fajitas, too—but don’t put those suckers on tortillas. Put the filling on the focaccia. SO GOOD.

Day 77: Root Vegetable Mash

In Bolga, I bought one of those baked potatoes off a lady’s head and took it home.  I ate half of it plain yesterday, and while I wouldn’t call it a sweet potato, I wouldn’t call it a regular potato either.  It’s a weird mix of the two, but tastes good. It was kind of dry, and since it’s been in the fridge I figured I’d add some boiling water and milk powder and mash it up. Then I got the bright idea to grate some carrot in, and also to add a roasted garlic clove. With some s&p, it wasn’t bad, but was really sweet and not quite what I was hoping for.

Day 78: Super-lemony Goodness

Tonight I made Erin’s Indonesian Chicken from Allrecipes.com (only to discover later that it’s basically the same as Gado-Gado, in the DOC). I substituted green pepe & cabbage for the green beans, pepe/chili powder for the chili paste, and used the meat from the other chicken leg. It’s really good. I squeezed two whole baby lemons into the sauce, which may have been too much, but the extra lemon made it quite multi-dimensional and delicious. I highly recommend it.

Learn the secrets of baking on a stone in a pizza oven to make farmhouse artisan focaccia this week at the  Bluebird Market Kitchen Show.  Adult tickets $3. with free Farmers Market lunch after the show.  Farmer Bob James will show us how to use veggies from our seasonal garden or farmers market and sausages for a warming winter -season focaccia.

Another guest post from MD’s hubby.   I was lucky enough to be invited to their Italian “Thanksgiving.”  The dinner basically included ridiculously delicious food (such as Fran’s Famous Focaccia, green bean casserole, bacon wrapped turkey meatloaf (!!!), chocolate, and copious amounts of both friends and wine).  Luckily, it did not include American T’giving food, which I quite frankly don’t really like so much.   This recipe is merely for delicious posterity, since peeling and cutting artichokes is WAY too much work for me

Here is the famous meatloaf!  Basically made the same way as the meatballs, but in loaf form, covered in bacon, and cooked in the oven.  MMMMmmmm…

Fried Artichokes

Artichokes

Eggs

Parsley

Grated Pecorino

All-purpose Flour

Corn oil

.

Cut/Peel off the harder outer leaves and stem of the artichokes.

Cut lengthwise into slices approximately 1/2 cm thick.

Soak in lemon water to reduce browning.

Heat corn oil in skillet.

Mix the flour, eggs, cheese, and parsley until you get a batter-like texture.

Coat the artichoke slices in batter and fry in corn oil until golden-brown and delicious.

Eat, Drink, and be Merry!!

Not to begin with a cliche’, but it really is a small, small world. Der.

Just when I thought I couldn’t be farther away from my roots, from my heritage, it appears right next door. I live just down the street from the Aero Theatre, part of the American Cinematheque. It’s another one of those things I love most about living in LA. Any given week you pass the theatre and see “early 70’s slasher film festival!” or “Gone with the Wind night!” You pay a mere 10 bucks, cheap by today’s movie ticket standards, and get to watch classics on the big screen. And that’s all they play there. Awesome.

Last week I drove by and saw “Italian film festival”. I nearly cacied in my pants. I went online to see what they were showing that night, and it was two films, The Sicilian Girl (La Siciliana Ribelle) a film by dir. Marco Amenti, and Focaccia Blues, a film by Nico Cirasola, which was about the failure of a McDonalds in my dad’s town of Altamura, in the Apulia region. I couldn’t believe it. Altamura is not an oft-spoken about town, except that they are famous for their bread. But not a lot of Americans, at least, know about it. Now I HAD to go.The film, it turned out, was a virtual love letter to Altamura. It began with a shot of la campagna, the countryside, and its walls of stone. I started to cwy a wittwe. But the film as a whole had such a wonderful message. A true story shot partially in documentary style, it was all about the small mom & pop shop and good, honest food cooked with love, winning over the big business of fast food merda. The McDonalds in Altamura failed because it was in competition with a focaccia bakery referred to by locals as de Gesu, where locals have gone for quick lunches during their workdays for years. The focaccia is hand made and delicious. The film includes interviews with locals and some very funny moments when very old locals are asked about McDonalds and have no idea what it is. What a lovely place .

Viva la Focaccia!

My dad, incidentally, knew very well of de Gesu, but had heard nothing of the opening and eventual closing of the McDonalds. No one cared. They had no need for a McDonalds, when they had easy access to the best lunch they could imagine. Fresh focaccia, warm from the coal oven.  My aunt Theresa makes amazing focaccia. My mom stole her recipe, and now makes it great too. I’m about to give you the recipe. It’s sacred, so have respect . It also takes a lot of time, so put on some Nicola di Bari*, and do it peacefully, with love:

                                                          La Focaccia di Theresa & Francesca

Ingredients: 

 4 cups Durum wheat four (basically semolina, but finely ground)

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 pkg dry yeast

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp salt

2 1/4 t0 3 cups of very warm water (110 deg)

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 tbsp oregano

handful of dried black olives (the wrinkly kind)

handful of cherry tomatoes

bottle of olive oil (amts shown later)

10 inch by 15 inch by 1 1/2 inch pan

in small bowl, mix yeast with 1/2 cup warm water & sugar. Let it stand 5 mins, or till it foams completely.

in big mixing bowl, mix both kinds of flour, 1 tbsp olive oil, butter & salt with whisk.

Then pour in remaining water, mix, then add yeast and mix with hands and knead for 5 mins, adding a bit more reg. flour to prevent stickiness.

put in clean mixing bowl, spray a tiny bit of Pam on top (so crust doesn’t form). Lay saran wrap over dough (not bowl), Cover bowl with

kitchen towel in warm area (my mom puts it next to heated stove) till doubles up in volume, for

1 to 2 hours. In meantime, In a bowl, pour 1/2 cup olive oil, cherry tomatoes split with your

hands, garlic, pinch of salt & oregano and toss. Let sit while dough rises.

When risen, pour 5 tbsp olive oil in bottom of baking pan . Stretch & fit dough with knuckles

into pan.  Pick out cherry tomatoes from mixture and push them into dough,

about 1/2 inch in. Pour olive oil mixture over dough, spreading around with hands. Add olives,

pushing in 1/2 inch.  (Theres a lot of oil on top & bottom, but that’s what makes it good. It’s supposed to be like the bottom of the dough is fried. Don’t be

afraid, little chicken). Cover with aluminum foil and let sit in warm place till rises AGAIN, for

another hour (told you it took long). Heat oven 450-475 during this time so its ready for you

when the hour is over.

Once it has risen again (amen), remove foil and place in middle rack of oven, for 20-25 mins.

Take out of oven and sit it on top of stove while you grab large brown paper shopping bag and,

resting it on its wide side side line the bottom with paper towel (so you’re really lining the side,

not the actual bottom of the bag that you stand it up on, capish?). Remove focaccia from pan

and place in bag on paper towel. Close up bag by crinkling it shut. Let sit 10 mins.

Remove and eat the whole thing right then and there. When done, don’t feel guilty like you

would after McDonalds.

It was such a bizarre experience, hearing my father’s dialect spoken in the film. The Altamura dialect is so distinct, it almost doesn’t sound like italian at times, more like a combo of portugese, french, and something slavic. I grew up on it, my dad and his siblings (12 total) are always teasing each other and making loud jokes in the dialect. To me, the dialect is the sound of, well,  love & laughter. Der. Here is an example of the dialect, using a phrase used in my family if people are lollygagging too much before heading somewhere. (I’ll spell the dialect more phonetically as opposed to the proper italian way):

English :If we’re gonna go, let’s GO. If we’re not gonna go, then let’s not go!

Italian: Se usciamo, usciamo. Se non usciamo, non dobbiamo uscire!

Altamurein: Se na shamunein, shamunein. Se NA na shamunein, na na shim ushein.

 Hearing this dialect, something so familiar to me in an artsy fartsy movie theatre in LA, something so unfamiliar, was just the coolest thing. The world is tiny.

One of the things I thought was so typical of an Italian film was its use of a actress Tiziana Schiavarelli as the sexy woman who in an uber-seductive way makes focaccia, her bosom, or I should say, BOSOMBAS, jiggling with every knead. Move over Giada DeLaurentis. Her name, Tiziana, is appropriate, aint it? 

She was no American film-style skinny chick with pert round ones and a six pack. This women had MEAT. Some would say pork. And her bosombas were like that of a mother, not a porn star. She was beautiful in a very old-fashioned Italian way. 

  I later spoke with director Nico Cirasola who is from Bari, the county (of sorts) that Altamura is in. We had a sweet email correspondence the day after. The world is small.   

La Siciliana Ribelle was also a great film. Italians know how to do drama, lemme tell you. It was a true story about the Cosa Nostra in Palermo, and the effect it had on the daughter of the Mancuso crime family, Rita Mancuso, portrayed by actress Veronica D’Agostino, who flung herself at the character.

  She was full of guts and maliciousness in the beginning, which later becomes integrity as she learns the truth about her father. An awesome film.

Il Compleanno a.k.a. David’s Birthday, directed by Marco Filiberti, was also a great dramatic film. Italians love sudden death, I’ll just say that. A group of friends & family, wives and husbands, spend a few weeks at the beach at madness ensues involving a closeted homosexual husband and the young gorgeous son of a friend, & another couple’s withering marriage. It is so tragic it’s almost Greek, and gorgeously scored and shot. Loves it.

Getting such a whopping dose if Italian culture through these great films, and getting to experience it right down the street from my apartment was something I’ll never forget about living here. I was able to be inspired as an actor and moved as an italian american. The world is tiny, and we are all connected. You just have to open your eyes, buy a ticket, and walk in. Der.

* A traditional Barese singer from my dads region

www.focacciablues.it

]]> http://joroche.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/halloween-pumpkins/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:31:06 +0000 joroche http://joroche.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/halloween-pumpkins/

We had a bit of a Halloween party on the 31st October – 11 children, 10 adults & 2 babies all dressed up and looking fantastic!  It was a perfect evening – dry, quite mild, with a bit of fog to add to the atmosphere.  The children had great fun with a torch light treasure hunt and were outside playing until 8pm.

Having had a bumper crop of (Connecticut Field) pumpkins at the allotment, I was able to really go all out on the carving.  The boys each did their own designs which I transferred to the pumpkins.  H’s is 2nd from left and M’s 3rd from left (ok there was a bit of interpretation on my part for his one!).  We did a Google to look for some design ideas and found this fantastic toothy creature (1st pic far right) which uses not only complete cut outs but also areas (the teeth and the eyes) where you remove only the skin of the pumpkin.  It is very effective and looks almost as good during the day as it does lit up.  I also tried a Yoda (2nd pic bottom right) using similar techniques (used a julienne knife to make his worry lines) but did draw the line at the death star (the demands of having a Star Wars fan in the house!)

The children then all had a go carving their own pumpkins at the party to great effect.  We had a really good mixture of styles and designs – even some names being carved out, they all looked fantastic!

Food wise, a friend brought the most amazing Thai pumpkin soup which we had in mugs with slices of the tomato focaccia which i had made a couple of weeks earlier and frozen.  This was really tasty and the garlic & rosemary topping worked particularly well.  The children had proper hot dogs while we enjoyed Sausage Cassoulet from “Jamie’s Kitchen”.  A great one dish meal which includes porcini, bacon, haricot beans and bread.  Dessert was either pumpkin pie or chocolate brownies both brought by friends and both fab!  All this was washed down by either bitter for the guys (Hobgoblin and the like) or bramble kir for the girls, the latter made using Blackberry liqueur made by some local Mums from our local hedgerows – really beautiful.

 A week later we had our village fireworks and bonfire.  A brilliant event that this year attracted over 7000 visitors.  Although P was away on a work trip, the boys & I went down to help set up in the morning and I was able to put my pumpkin carving skills to the test, albeit on a rather larger scale!  One of the parents from school grows the most enormous pumpkins (on a compost heap I think).  He always enters these in our village produce show and they normally top 17lbs!  This year he donated about a dozen, so armed with some pretty heavy duty knives and some fab designs we all set to carving these ready to sit around the bonfire along with other smaller ones which we all took down with us.

The effect was brilliant and the fireworks to music spectacular, although M slept through most of them on his Granddad’s shoulder!

With an Italian husband and a great love for Italian food, quite a bit of it gets made in our household. And as I continue to look at recipes from his family, Bon Appetit and various sources, there is a lot of talk about the San Marzano tomato.

I have always wondered if it was merely another brand, or something organically grown? Will it really change my sauce into something more delicious? I had always doubted a tomato type could do such great things until I finally went into my International food aisle and bought some. Yes, this tomato does indeed have powers beyond your imagination. I am a believer, and may never go back.

The story goes that the first seed of the San Marzano tomato came to Campania in 1770, as a gift from the Kingdom of Peru to the Kingdom of Naples, and that it was planted in the area that corresponds to the present commune of San Marzano. For those who know Italy’s geography know that this area contains volcanic soil in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. It is believed that this soil acts as a filter for water impurities. The result – a strong, sweeter, less acidic tomato that will give your sauces a “wow” factor.

This recipe came from Food Network Magazine with some improv – feel free to tinker with the recipe as I did. Also, the simple to make focaccia recipe (also Food Network Magazine) is a great complement.

Note: don’t make the mistake of not letting it simmer all day (hence the “Sunday” in its name). It helps the flavors blend and results in a richer sauce.

Another Note: Yes, the Italians call it gravy and yes, I didn’t know this until I married one. Don’t confuse this with the turkey gravy you get at Thanksgiving – this is your hearty meat sauce for spaghetti!

SUNDAY GRAVY
6 Servings

3 slices white bread, toasted and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup milk
3/4 pound ground beef
3/4 pound ground pork
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish (optional)
10 cloves garlic; 2 minced, 8 smashed
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds Italian sausage (half sweet, half hot), halved
1 medium onion, quartered
3 28-ounce cans San Marzano plum tomatoes
1 12-ounce can tomato paste
6 bay leaves
1 pound orecchiette pasta (or any pasta you like)

Soak the bread in the milk until the liquid is absorbed, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the ground beef and pork in a bowl with the egg, cheese, minced garlic, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Add the soaked bread and mix with your hands until combined. Form into 16 meatballs.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning, until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Add sausage to the pot and cook until browned, turning, about 10 minutes. Transfer the meat to a large bowl.

Add the onion and smashed garlic to the pot and fry until soft, about

4 minutes. Crush the tomatoes into the pot with your hands and pour in the juices. Stir in the tomato paste, season with salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes.

Add 5 cups water and the bay leaves, then return the meatballs, beef shin and sausage to the pot, stirring carefully. Bring to a low boil, stir, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer 2 hours, or until the shin meat is very tender. Uncover and simmer until the sauce thickens and the shin meat is falling off the bone, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Transfer all the meats with a slotted spoon to a bowl and cover with foil. Simmer the sauce to thicken, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook as the label directs. Drain and toss with enough sauce to coat lightly, then top with more sauce and the meat. Garnish with parmesan, if desired.

ONION-HERB FOCACCIA
4 Servings

On a floured surface, roll out 1 pound refrigerated pizza dough into a 10-by-15-inch rectangle; press into an oiled rimmed baking sheet. Mix 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary and/or oregano, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes and a big pinch of sea salt. Brush half of the herb oil over the dough, then set aside until puffy, about 1 hour. Make dimples in the dough with your fingers and top with thin onion slices and shaved parmesan. Bake at 400 until golden, about 20 minutes. Brush with the remaining herb oil.

Cherry Tomatoes are the only tomatoes worth eating now that it is almost winter which is sad. But I get to turn my oven on so that makes me happy! This in one of the best baked breads I have ever made, for some reason they never turn out great but this focaccia was completely perfect. It rose so high and was the perfect texture. Here is the link to the recipe. I served it with marinated baked tofu and “nice ass greens“. This wasn’t the perfect meal for a weeknight because the focaccia needed two rising times but it was a simple and great meal and I recomend it.